Action cuts vehicles by a third and allows use only by emergency personnel

PITTSBURGH, PA – Mayor William Peduto issued an Executive Order today that will cut one third of the take-home vehicles used by city personnel.

The order slices the take-home fleet from 56 to 38 vehicles, and restricts their use to Public Safety and Public Works supervisors on-call to respond to emergencies. In the past, employees in the Mayor’s office and some city department directors had such vehicles.

“City government’s oversight of take-home cars has become much too loose over the years, and my administration is committed to tightening up all such standards,” said Mayor William Peduto. ”I don’t have a take-home car myself, and neither should any city worker who is not a first-line responder 24 hours a day to emergencies.”

This is the third Executive Order on reforming Pittsburgh government signed by the Mayor, following one stripping the names of elected officials from vehicles and other government property, and another withdrawing nearly 90 percent of free parking passes previously issued to city personnel.

Under today’s Order a number of vehicles will be stripped from the Mayor’s Office; the Bureau of Building Inspection; the Fire Bureau; Parks & Recreation; the Police Bureau; the Public Safety Department; and the Public Works Department.

The 18 vehicles no longer being used for take-home purposes will be put into the city motor pool. Under today’s order city employees will still be able to sign out motor pool vehicles to travel to off-site work.

The Executive Order asks Chief Operations Officer Guy Costa to write within 30 days a full policy on take-home care use.

The order is below:

EXECUTIVE ORDER

WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh’s (the “City”) take-home vehicle fleet is a critical asset paid for by the taxpayers of the City of Pittsburgh; and

WHEREAS, the City’s take-home vehicle fleet has, in the past, been utilized by Department Directors and employees in the Mayor’s Office and other City departments; and

WHEREAS, this order proposes a clear distinction between City fleet vehicles available for one-time use by employees attending off-site meetings and those vehicles that are designated long-term take-home vehicles; and

WHEREAS, use of City take-home vehicles should be restricted to select supervisory employees on 24-hour call in the Departments of Public Works and Public Safety and to the City’s Chief Operations Officer.

NOW THEREFORE, by the power vested in me as the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, I do hereby order as follows:

1. The Chief Operations Officer (the “COO”) of the City of Pittsburgh shall compile an inventory of all City employees who have been provided a long-term take-home vehicle and who currently hold those vehicles.

2. The COO shall submit this comprehensive inventory to the Mayor within fourteen (14) days of the issuance of this executive order.

3. The COO shall establish written policies and procedures to delineate between the assignment and use of long-term take-home vehicles versus the one-time assignment and use of City fleet vehicles and to designate those employees eligible for assignment of long-term take-home vehicles (“the Policy”).

4. Within thirty (30) days of the issuance of this executive order to Pittsburgh City Council, the COO shall distribute the policy to the Mayor, Department Directors, and City Council.

5. All City employees who currently hold City take-home vehicle privileges, including employees of the Mayor’s Office, and who do not meet the criteria established by the policy shall be identified by the COO and prohibited from maintaining said privileges.

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